1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a control circuit for sliding roof devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a control circuit for sliding roof devices of a type in which a mobile member such as a roof panel for opening and closing a roof opening of a vehicle is driven with a forward-reverse rotatable electric motor through a transmission element.
2. Description of Relevant Art
There are known control circuits for sliding roof devices of a type in which an electric motor interconnected through a transmission element with a roof panel is controlled to be actuated in a pole-reversing manner for opening and closing a roof opening of a vehicle. In such type of sliding roof device, in general, the roof panel is moved out of a close position thereof, where it fully closes the roof opening, to an open position thereof, where it has fully opened the roof opening, or from the close position to what is called a tilt-up position thereof.
As an example of control circuit for such sliding roof device, there has been disclosed one in U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,430, patented on Nov. 7, 1972.
According to this United States Patent, an invention has been achieved to solve an old problem found in sliding roof devices of the type described. Such old problem was that when the roof panel was returned from the tilt-up position or the open position to the close position, it was difficult to automatically stop the panel-driving electric motor and the motor was thus unnecessarily left actuated for a period of time.
To solve this problem, in the control circuit according to this U.S. Patent, there were utilized a cam switch for detecting the close position of the roof panel and an impulse relay cooperating with the cam switch, whereby the electric motor was automatically stopped when the panel was returned from the tilt-up position or the open position to the close position. In this respect, when the roof panel was moved from the close position to the tilt-up position or the open position, quite conventionally a motor-starting switch was turned off to stop the electric motor, or otherwise the panel was brought into engagement with a stopper member disposed at a predetermined position to thereby operate a well-known slip clutch interposed between an output shaft of the motor and the transmission element.
According to this United States Patent, an effective solution was made of the old problem.
However, with the control circuit according to this U.S. Patent, with which the electric motor was once automatically stopped when the roof panel was returned to the close position, it was impossible by way of a single continuous switch operation to move the panel from the tilt-up position to the open position or vice versa.
In this respect, for a control circuit for sliding roof devices of the type described, although, as was in the aforesaid United States Patent, it still is a desideratum to permit the roof panel to be continuously moved between the tilt-up position and the close position, as well as between the close position and the open position, years have raised an additional desideratum of offering greater convenience by permitting the roof panel to be moved with a single continuous switch operation from the tilt-up position also to the open position or vice versa, when necessary.
The present invention has been achieved to effectively substantiate such desiderata in a conventional control device for sliding roof devices of the class described.